Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A Muslim female standup comic, of
all things, Shabana Rehman made headlines by power lifting an
angry mullah off the ground. Her story, “For Kingdom and
Fatherland,” is one of the gems of the 14th New York
International Fringe Festival, and you can catch her show this
afternoon or tomorrow.

Dressed in an electric blue gown, Rehman takes the stage
alone, with a pair of suitcases for props. Born in Karachi,
Pakistan, she moved with her family to Oslo and from poverty to
middle-class comfort until the financial crisis hit in the late
’80s.

Rehman was in the nightclub audience when Mullah Krekar
turned up to promote his new book. Reassuring and jovial, he
told the crowd not to fear him. Taking the mullah at his word,
she joined him onstage, grabbed him around his thighs and
hoisted the chubby religious leader into the air. He was not
amused.

Using her elastic limbs and a face that can go from calm
loveliness to fierce anger in an instant, Rehman never pushes
her material. Directed by Stephen Rosenfield, her show is
intimate, amusing and a bit heartbreaking. (Jeremy Gerard)

Rating: ** 1/2

Runs today at 2 p.m. and tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at the New
School for Drama Theater, 151 Bank St.

Saturday

“Lemonade: A Play of World Domination,” falls into the
expanding category of “Urinetown” wannabes. An unabashedly
lefty musical, “Urinetown” was an allegory about evil
capitalists who control even our bodily functions. That 1999
festival offering later moved to Broadway and won three Tony
Awards.

“Lemonade” isn’t a musical and it won’t be winning Tonys
anytime soon. Written by Jais Brohinsky and staged by David
Denson, it’s a comic book fantasy in which evil capitalists
conspire to sell air and sunlight as plebes suffer in the
streets.

Painted in the broadest possible strokes, with sets, props
and even some costumes scissored out of cardboard, the show’s
humor wears thin long before its allotted 90 minutes. (Jeremy
Gerard) Rating: *

More Fringe shows worth checking out: “The Hurricane
Katrina Comedy Festival” at the SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam St.
“Running” at the Cherry Pit, 155 Bank St. “Omarys Concepcion
Lopez Perez Goes to Israel (to speak to God at the Wailing
Wall)” at Players Loft, 115 MacDougal St. “When Last We Flew”
at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St. “All Day
Suckers” at the Robert Moss Theatre, 440 Lafayette St. and
“Shine: A Burlesque Musical” at the Ellen Stewart Theater, 74A
E. 4th St.